20 levs – The Virgin Mary Wayshower

On 19 December 2011 the Bulgarian National Bank will introduce into circulation a gold commemorative coin ‘The Virgin Mary Wayshower’ from the ‘Bulgarian Iconography’ series. It will be offered for sale at the BNB cash desks for BGN 180, VAT excluded (the coin is investment gold). This is yet another coin from the series, which features an author’s replica of the double-sided icon ‘The Virgin Hodegetria’ (‘She who shows the Way)’, which since 1939 has been preserved at the National Church Museum in Sofia.

The coin is intended to stir collectors’ interest and make an appropriate present for the forthcoming Christmas and New Year’s holidays, which are associated with a new beginning and a hope for a good future.

The obverse of the coin features the logo of the Bulgarian National Bank and the year ‘1879’ inscribed on the ribbon. The inscription ‘БЪЛГАРСКА НАРОДНА БАНКА’ (Bulgarian National Bank), the nominal value of the coin ‘20 ЛЕВА’ (BGN 20), and the year of issue ‘2011’ go in circumference.

The reverse of the coin depicts a fragment of the Sozopol icon ‘The Virgin Hodegetria’ (XIV – XV centuries) from ‘St. John the Theologian’ church and the inscription ‘СВ. БОГОРОДИЦА ПЪТЕВОДИТЕЛКА’ (The Virgin Mary Wayshower).